The Honor Among Survivors
by Savvy Sammy-13
Summary: Ever wondered what would happen if the characters from Criminal Minds met up with characters from The Walking Dead? While working in Atlanta on a case, the members of the BAU find themselves in unfamiliar territory when the apocalypse begins. They are split into small pairings, and they run into a few Walking Dead survivors as they struggle to survive themselves.


"Emily!"

Emily Prentiss quickly pulled her head from inside the door of the old station wagon she was searching and looked back up the highway. Derek Morgan was jogging back down the cramped and congested highway, squeezing through the tight spaces and sliding across a hood or two as he made his way back toward her and around the curve in the road. His jeans were stained with some old blood and his tight gray shirt was soaked with sweat; she could see that even from the distance.

Emily stood back up and took a few steps away from the station wagon and its horrible orange upholstery. A prickle of fear worked itself down her spine, and she shook her hands at her sides as if she could just shake it away.

He'd gone ahead to scout while she searched the cars. She would have been lying if she'd said that she hadn't been nervous or even slightly scared on her own for those few short minutes. It was a fear much different than the occasional fear she had while working with the team or even before working with the team. Everything about the world and even herself felt different now. She used to be so confident in nearly every situation. She'd gone undercover dealing with the world's most dangerous criminals and now, she barely recognized herself.

Now, with Morgan being the only one she felt she could trust, and after seeing more death and destruction than she felt she'd seen in her entire career, she was trying to hide her new forming weaknesses—like the fear of the dead. The dead weren't supposed to come back to torture you. The living did enough of that on their own.

Emily cursed her nerves. For God's sake, she'd been through so much, why was she beginning to break now?

She pocketed a small handful of melted and mushy tootsie rolls that she'd found in the middle console of the station wagon, hidden beneath a few Sonic napkins, and wiped her hands on her jeans before she pulled the pistol from its holster at her waist.

"We gotta go. There's a lot coming," Morgan pointed behind him, straining his voice to keep it low but audible. He had his pistol out, holding it low by his side. He squeezed between the bumper of two cars directly in front of her and turned back to look behind him.

Emily used the bumper of the station wagon as a step stool. She stepped up and then over to the hood of the next car.

"How many?" she asked as she raised her hand to block the bright, setting sun from her eyes.

She groaned aloud before he could answer. The herd of walkers were quickly making their way around the curve in the road, bumping along a guardrail.

"We gotta get off the highway," Morgan stopped beside her to catch his breath. "There's gotta be a hundred of them back there."

"Where to?" Emily questioned. Her stomach churned nervously and she wished that she had chosen to eat something other than the Vienna sausages that they'd come across in someone's quick packed bag.

"I don't know…the woods. Out of sight," Derek reached his hand up to help her back down.

Emily took his hand to jump down, and she tried to ignore the small jolt she felt from the simple gesture. She let out an oomph as her feet hit the asphalt. Derek released her immediately, and she closed her empty hand.

"Morgan, as much as you would like me to believe that you are an outdoorsman, you aren't and I'm not either," She muttered. She straightened her red v neck, short-sleeved shirt. "I'm not getting lost in those damn backwoods again. We finally found a major highway. It'll be dark in an hour or two. I don't wanna sleep in the woods."

"Well what are we gonna do Emily?" Derek raised his voice angrily. He reached up to swipe the sweat from his brow with his forearm.

Emily looked back to the walkers; they were only a hundred yards or so away now, but they didn't seem to see them yet.

Derek had been losing his temper a lot the past few days, but she didn't blame him. She was stressed too and had let him have it a few times as well. He was intense when someone's safety was involved. She knew he worried about her—cared about her, but he was beginning to drive her more than a little crazy- crazy in more ways than one. She allowed her eyes to trail back up to his face. He was still breathing heavily. The two of them hadn't been the same since she'd returned to the BAU after her "death." Derek hadn't been the same at least. Could she really blame him? He'd gone to her funeral and then she'd simply returned. Now she was seeing the damage that her stunt had caused in him.

"Think about it but think quick. We need to get down," he ducked behind a truck and grabbed her arm, breaking her thoughts and pulling her down to the ground with him.

She didn't object. She dropped to her knees, resting them on the trash and debris of the messy highway.  
>"Well what do you suggest? He asked again. "You've been following my lead this far."<p>

"Hey and it was your idea to leave the city. That's the reason we ended up in this unfamiliar territory anyway," Emily spat.

"You're killing me, woman," Morgan murmured. He shook his head at her. "I don't know about you, but all of Georgia is unfamiliar territory to me."

Emily sensed his joking tone. He didn't smile, though. She was really starting to miss his smile. He had quickly taken on the role of her protector. It was as if after all that she had been through and all the ways she had proven herself in her career, she had somehow made herself appear weaker to him. Emily didn't allow herself to be offended. She was just worried that he would get hurt…or worse.

"I don't know," Emily muttered. "This slow moving is killing me though…can't travel on the highways because they're so backed up, can't call anybody to get a location, and every time we turn around we run into a hundred of those darn things coming out of Atlanta. We're not making headway."

"Well at least I _did_ get us out of that city," Morgan snapped. "At least we're alive. I call that headway."

Emily reached up to tighten her ponytail. Yes, they were alive. She knew that Morgan would die himself before he let anything happen to her. Their earlier split up to divide and conquer had been the first time she'd been out of his sight for more than a minute or two.

Emily turned her head back to watch Derek. She watched a small drop of sweat drip down his toned arm. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed his amazing physique before—that would have been impossible.

"Where's Reid with a map and all his wonderful information when you need him?" she murmured, trying to stop her own thoughts but also engage Derek in conversation.

Emily stopped when she mentioned Reid. She looked into her friend's concerned eyes. They hadn't been talking about the team. It seemed to be better for the two of them to pretend that they weren't thinking of them, but Emily hadn't stopped thinking about Hotch, Reid, Rossi, JJ, or Penelope.

She knew that Derek hadn't either. All of them except Penelope had come to Georgia to work on a serial murder case. Prentiss recalled that none of them had thought much of the Atlanta hospital supposedly housing a contagious patient who had come from another country. Hell, she couldn't even remember the name of what they'd had, but now, she was sure that somehow, it must have gotten out of that hospital.

Why hadn't the public been better warned?

She thought back to how badly Hotch had blamed himself when Atlanta was shut down. He blamed himself for choosing a case so far away from home. But he hadn't known. It wasn't his fault. The public hadn't been warned as they should've. They'd all been split up when Atlanta began shutting down due to panic. The crowds and panic made it impossible to reconnect.

Luckily, Emily was with Derek. They had been riding back to the station, talking to Hotch over her cell phone when they lost all communication. They couldn't get back to the station where the six of them had planned on meeting up. Now she wondered where the rest of them were. Where had they gotten caught up in traffic? Were they still in Atlanta?

Atlanta had been incredibly dangerous and she and Derek had barely made it out. The few people that they had encountered were the worst kinds. They were plunderers and panic spreaders. The two of them had nowhere to take shelter, and ultimately, Emily allowed Derek to lead her out of the city limits.

Derek had taken to killing the walkers quicker than she had. She was still adapting to it. With every kill she added to her list, she reminded herself that they weren't people—at least not anymore. She had to remind herself that it was either her or them.

"Reid's with Rossi," Derek attempted to sound reassuring.

"And JJ was with Hotch last we heard. I'm sure they're all doing better than we are," Emily responded. "They probably stayed in Atlanta holed up somewhere. They may have gotten back to the station."

"I hope so," Derek murmured. "They could have gotten weapons there. Or they could've holed up with the other officers."

Emily turned to look in the direction opposite the walkers. It seemed that she and Derek would just have to hole up and stay safe until it was over. She stood to her feet.

"Okay I have an idea. Look, you see that RV up there?" She asked quickly.

"Yeah," Derek craned his neck in the direction.

"Well c'mon let's go," Emily darted from behind the car, scooped up their small supply bag and headed in the direction of the RV.

"Wait, Prentiss!"

She threw the bag over her shoulder and continued jogging. She wore a pair of lace up boots, a little too big for her own feet that she'd taken off of a walker, and she wore a pair of jeans she'd found packed in a van. Surprisingly, there had been quite a lot of clothes to choose from in the abandoned suitcases of strangers.

Derek caught up to her as she assumed he would and she turned her head to meet his eyes.

"We aren't gonna be able to drive it out even if it does have keys or gas. Place is too jammed up."

"I know. We can just wait till the herd passes," she muttered. "Then we can keep on the highway."

She slowed to a quick walk. He matched her stride.

Emily looked through the glass of a white truck and grimaced as she passed it. There was a dead person inside—actually dead she assumed. He wasn't moving. He was slumped over the steering wheel.

"I bet every major road and highway is this jammed," she murmured.

"I'm sure. People panic. They try to get out quick," Derek responded. "A lot of weird things happen to people in times like this."

"Yeah…They do," she murmured.

The two of them had been avoiding people completely. They'd witnessed a few groups of people- families, but they avoided them as much as they avoided the few stragglers.

Emily glanced back to Derek, but turned her head when he looked back at her.

She tried to clear her head—tried to stop thinking of Derek like she was. Sure, they'd been alone for nearly a week so far, had been in close quarters the entire time, and been pretty much taking care of each other. Didn't they do that before this though?

She scolded herself. He was her partner—her work partner. But now he was her survival partner as well.

Emily shook her head at her own thoughts. It was different now. Things had begun to become different when she returned to the BAU. She'd seen how crushed he had been by losing her.

It was then that she'd started thinking about how short life was—how every member of the team was in constant danger working.

Emily was beginning to feel desperate now. He was the only thing that she had left. Everything had crumbled around the two of them and she was scared that she may actually lose him now.

"I didn't mean to offend you, ya know?" Emily murmured. "I just don't wanna tromp through the woods. I think they're more dangerous. You can't see for much distance at a time."

"But I don't like being out in the open. We have to watch out for people too, Emily. I know what you're thinking," he turned his head to her.

"What?" She demanded. She paused a moment to glare at him. Why hadn't she had feelings for Derek before this? Or had she? Emily thought hard as she waited for him to answer. Before this, they hadn't been sleeping in tight places, hadn't been sharing every moment together, and hadn't been sharing small portions of food that they found on the run. Before this, they also hadn't been having the deep emotional talks—well more like whispers that came at night when the world around them was dark and there was nothing else to busy themselves with.

"You think if we stay on the highways we'll run into them—Hotch, JJ, Reid, or Rossi. I can't say that I haven't imagined that scenario in my mind a few times," Derek finally murmured.

Emily started to speak but she stopped. She looked at the ground as she quickened her pace. What if they were already dead?

"We shouldn't have separated," she finally said. "But come on, we don't need those things to see us."

The both of them began jogging again. She studied the older model RV as it came into clearer view.

"I know I've been a jackass," Derek said when they stopped to squeeze past a few more cars rather than walk all the way around them.

"I have too," Emily murmured. "God, this is even worse than when we worked that case in Miami for seven days straight and made no headway on it."

"Oh and you remember Hotch and Gideon on that case?" she added quickly. She was nervous talking. The walkers still a ways behind them had her pulse fluttering.

Derek laughed a little.

"I'm serious. You remember how snappy Gideon got? Well Hotch too," she cracked her own smile as she continued. "Seriously though, if both of them were in their bad moods I don't know which I'd rather be around."

"Leave it to Miss Emily to make me laugh while we're runnin for our lives." Derek smiled his once usual, but now, rare smile.

"I remember I thought Gideon was gonna get us killed out of the police department and we were gonna have to work the case from our hotel rooms," he laughed slightly.

Emily's own smile widened. She'd been working hard to make him smile, trying her best to think of something to say.

"Shut up, Morgan," she shoved his shoulder playfully, not surprised when he barely moved against her force.

"Hey we've just got each other. I can't have you mad at me," he added.

"Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't wanna be with either of them right now though, even if they were in a bad mood," she said solemnly. "And Reid. I think I could listen to Reid quote the dictionary."

"Me too, Prentiss-"

"Whoa, walker," Emily grabbed Derek's shoulder to get his attention. She pointed to the scraggly woman limping towards them—much closer than the ones trailing behind them. This particular one had come undetected from the woods. Their short moments of smiles and laughter were always short lived. Emily felt her heart rate quicken.

"Go on to the RV," Derek ordered. "Check it out."

Emily hesitantly detoured around the last little blue car blocking their path to the RV. The walker was focused on Derek. She didn't want to leave his side. Had it been an unsub she knew that she wouldn't. He wouldn't have even asked.

"Get inside. I got this one," Derek said. He walked up to it and groaned out as he pushed the walker backwards by its shoulders.

Emily stopped, mouth open, and fingers tightening around her gun.

"Go. Hurry, make sure we can even get inside," he yelled out to her as the walker slowly dragged itself back to him.

Emily forced herself to turn away from him. He was Derek. He had one walker. Her heart hammered in her chest though, as she jogged toward the door of the older model RV. She reached out and grabbed the door handle, quickly yanking it open.

"It's open!" She started to stumbled up the steps, gun in hand, but she turned before entering the RV.

She watched Derek hit the walker with the butt of his pistol, sending it crashing to the ground. He raised his foot to crush its head and she was satisfied seeing that he was unscathed. When she turned back to the interior of the RV, she didn't even see what hit her.

First she felt the force as her gun was knocked from her hand. Her hand stung and her gun fell to the right, clattering somewhere around the driver and passenger's seats of the RV. She was immediately yanked hard to the left. She saw the blur of the man. He struggled to turn her and press her back against his body and subdue her. She felt a sweaty arm wrap around her midsection. She swung a hand up toward his face but missed, kicked her right leg backwards, and felt his shin beneath her boot.

It all happened so fast that she didn't even have time to cry out.

She glanced forward and caught sight of another man, sending her into a more frantic frenzy. She knew that she had messed up. Her adrenaline strengthened her and she twisted her body, sending her boot back into the shin of her attacker. He groaned aloud, angry and painfully. He flattened her arm back to her side and then she felt the cool metal of a gun on her neck. It made her freeze. She stopped her blind fighting and focused her eyes forward. Her entire body numbed in shock. She raised her arms in defeat, surveying the situation quickly as reality set in.

"Emily!" Derek yelled from outside.

"Don't move or I'll shoot ya and your friend!" the voice rasped from behind her.

"Morgan no! Don't come!" Emily warned. She wretched her eyes away from the second man who stood with a crossbow between the driver and passenger seat. Morgan rushed up the steps of the RV, pistol drawn, and not heeding her warning.

"Freeze!" Derek shouted. He stopped when he realized the dire situation. There were two men, and one had already subdued her. His gun wavered in his hand.

This is it, Emily thought frantically. The two of them may not make it out of the RV alive.

"Don't shoot him," Emily yelled to the man with the crossbow. "Please. We're no threa-" Emily trailed off.

She watched Derek's eyes quickly meet hers before he turn to stare back into the sight of the crossbow. The intimidating man stepped an inch closer to Derek, just another step, but Emily felt her chest tighten with fear.

The man behind her pulled her closer to him. He pressed the gun harder into her neck, and she fought the urge to fight back.

Emily looked to Derek and then back at the stranger held the crossbow. He wore a pair of dirty green pants and a lighter green muscle shirt. The arms that held up his crossbow were toned, not a far description from Derek's.

"You want me to freeze?" the man holding her mocked Derek. "What are you the police? You freeze you damn nigg-."

"Hey shut up!" Morgan exploded.

"You shut up!" the man with the crossbow roared back, standing up for his partner. "And put the damn gun down!"

"Let her go," Morgan ordered. "We don't want any trouble, man." He held his pistol as if he still hadn't quite decided which man to point it at.

"We ain't movin till you put yours down," the man holding her rasped again.

Emily cursed herself. How could she have been so careless—so stupid? Now she may have cost Derek his life, and possibly hers as well.

The man that held her had one arm wrapped around her middle tightly, pressing into her ribcage. With the other, he held the gun to the soft flesh of her neck. He smelled of a sweat and alcohol mixture.

She didn't know what the man that held her looked like, but the man she could see looked completely dangerous, and she was afraid that he was going to shoot an arrow right through Derek.

"Put the damn gun down or I'll kill her," the man behind her ordered. "Wouldn't it be a shame?"

Emily clenched her jaws tightly.

"It's nothin personal sweetheart," he drawled in her ear.

Her mouth tightened into a disgusted grimace.

But while she tried to steady her own breathing and think of a plan, Derek still stood frozen, debating whether or not to toss his own gun to the floor.

"Did you hear him?" the crossbow man demanded. "We ain't got all day!"

"Everybody shut up!" Emily gasped out breathlessly. "Stop yelling…please." Both Derek and the man holding the crossbow stopped to stare back at her. She was surprised at her own outburst.

"Emily," Derek murmured softly. It was a warning, but Emily took no heed.

"Look," she started again, carefully, testing the waters. "There's a herd of those things out there. They're coming-"

"Shut the door," the man holding her ordered to Derek. "And put that broom handle through the handle."

Derek stopped for a moment. He met Emily's eyes and she nodded to him. She didn't want to be locked inside, but they had a big enough problem. They didn't need walkers on top of what they were already dealing with. Slowly, he reached behind him and closed the door with one hand. With the other, he still held the gun halfway up. He glanced to the ground, eyeing the broom.

"Pick it up and fix it," the voice behind her boomed. "But first drop the gun at Daryl's feet."

"Do it, Derek," Emily murmured. "Please."

"Listen to the lady," the man holding her spoke again. This time his voice was lower, quieter.

She was afraid that Derek was going to get hurt. She didn't want him to, especially because of her—because she hadn't checked the RV before clambering inside. It was a rookie mistake.

Derek tossed the gun at the other man's feet and raised his hands. His mouth was set into a tight frown. Emily tried to read his expression, tried to imagine what he was thinking, but she couldn't. She didn't know what he would do.

"We were here first. You two idiots butt in here like you own the place," the man's breath hit her ear as he spoke.

"Listen boys, we can settle this," Emily steadied her voice.

"Like you're in the position to be makin demands," the man holding the crossbow grumbled.

Emily swallowed hard but regained her composure.

"What is it that you both want? We only wanted to get away from those…things," she said softly.

"You're mighty brave to be talkin with a gun to you head," her captor murmured.

"I'm Emily and that's Derek," she tried again.

She'd been in and gotten herself out of tighter situations right? Emily turned her head slightly to try and catch a glimpse of the man who held her.

"Well nice to meet you, Emily," the man behind her rasped sarcastically. "Would ya kindly tell your…friend here to calm down?"

"Then what?" she questioned breathlessly.

"Then maybe we can work something out here." In the silence before he answered, Emily knew that she couldn't have been the only one that heard the growls, gargles, and hisses of the approaching herd. But none of the men reacted.

"We only needed a place to hide from the herd," Emily murmured to him, softer again.

The words barely left her mouth before a hard thump brought everyone's attention to the front of the RV. The walkers had found the front of the RV, probably with a little help from the yelling and noise.

Derek grabbed the broom and slipped it through the handle, holding the door in place.

"Look what you two did!" the man with the crossbow shouted.

"Shut up, Daryl!" the man's grip loosened a little on her as he hissed at his accomplice.

"Can you just let me go now?" Emily asked. "We can work something out."

"What are we gonna do with em? The crossbow man hissed.

"Shut up. I'm thinkin!" The man behind her snapped. "We can't open the damn doors! They'll be on us as much as on them."

Emily allowed her eyes to drift outside of the RV. She stared out of the dusty windows. The walkers were beginning to completely surround the RV. A few more knocks on the side forced the man holding her to finally speak again.

"You sit in the booth big man," he snapped out the order and pulled Emily backwards a little, out of the way of the small booth table to her left.

Derek stared back at the man, and Emily let out a shaky breath.

"Don't try nothin or we'll send the both of you off the roof of this RV. You understand? We'll take you guns, ammo…Pat your pockets first. Watch him Daryl."

"I'm watchin him," Daryl snapped.

Emily watched Derek pat his own pockets. He turned slowly, teeth clenched, and stopped in front of her.

"Sit down big boy," the man rasped. His voice was lowered nearly to a whisper.

"Just sit down, Derek," Emily whispered. "It's fine."  
>"What about her?" Derek demanded.<p>

"She'll join ya…maybe," he grumbled.

"It's okay," Emily mouthed.

Derek slowly moved to sit in the booth, eyes on her the entire time.

"Alright now you sweetheart, but I'll keep this," Emily felt the man pull the bag from her shoulder. He released her and she turned to slide into the same seat with Derek, but Derek jumped to his feet.

"We can't just sit here-"

"Derek, just sit down," Emily pushed him back, gently using her body to move him back toward the small booth table—doing her best to avoid confrontation between Derek and the two men.

"You can't take our guns in a time like this-"

She reached out and grabbed both of Derek's arms.

"Please," she begged. She raised her eyes to meet his. She wasn't sure what the men wanted, but she had a feeling that the men's own safety was much more important to them. The men didn't exactly have the luxury of firing a gun to put a bullet in their heads without letting the walkers know that they were hiding inside and getting the walkers all more riled up.

Derek clenched his jaws tightly.

"I've got this," she whispered so low that only he could hear it. "I got us into it. I'll get us out."

He sat back down uneasily, and rubbed his head hopelessly.

Emily made sure to block him in, sitting on the edge of the cracked, green, cushioned seat to make sure that he wouldn't be unable to jump up quickly. She was more than worried that Derek wouldn't be able to keep his temper in check around these men. They were volatile and he was short tempered.

"You still think that the woods are more dangerous than the highway?" Derek grumbled from under his breath.

Emily gave him another quick glance, pleading with her eyes for him to calm down.

The walkers outside were gaining momentum. They knew that there was food inside. The rasps were growing louder and they were bumping all sides now. She could hear the individual hands meeting the metal of the RV.

The older man that had subdued her sat across from them on the small countertop, leaning his back against the brown particle board cabinets. Emily took her first good look at the older man sporting a prickly, growing, gray beard and wearing a stained white wife beater. He kept his hand on the pistol in his lap. The other man remained standing, but moved closer, crossbow still in hand. He had both of their pistols in his possession, sticking out of the waistband of his dirty green pants.

An uncomfortable silence filled the RV while the noises outside grew louder.

"So what are your names?" Emily finally asked softly.

"Merle. That's my brother, Daryl."

Emily moistened her lips and took a side glance at Derek.

He glared at her as if he was unhappy that she was conversing with the enemy.

"We'll get out of here as soon as the herd passes through," She murmured, more to Derek than to the other men.

"You know, we people have to stick together now," she said uncertainly.

"I don't see nothing wrong with helping each other out," Merle muttered. "You can help your _own kind_ out. But what is he to you? Boyfriend?"

"He's my partn—my work partner," Emily answered innocently.

"Work partner?"

"Yeah we work together," Emily murmured.

"Where'd ya'll work?"

"We don't know anything about you," Emily countered.

Merle's lips curled into a slight smile.

Emily forced a smile back, almost flirty but cocky.

"Ain't you somethin," Merle murmured.

Emily looked away from his sneer, and she brought her eyes back to Derek's. He looked as if he was struggling to maintain composure and keep his anger in check.

"I can't say I mind the company of a lady…'specially one like you," Merle continued lowly. "But why on God's green earth are you runnin with him?"

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. Of course they would be racist, sexist pigs—backwoods Georgia trash.

Emily didn't answer him, but instead reached beneath the table to touch Derek's arm when she thought he might erupt out of anger again.

"Where'd you two come from anyway?" Merle questioned. "You two don't sound like you're from Georgia."

"The Virginia Washington DC area. Around there," Emily answered quickly but quietly.

"Northerners. Shoulda' known," he muttered.

Emily frowned at the man. He was like the unsubs that they tracked down on a regular basis. She assumed that he probably had an interesting record of his own. The both of them probably did.

"We don't know y'all. So ya understand why we can't let you parade in here with guns huh?" Merle murmured.

"Yeah. Ummhmm," Emily agreed. "Of course. I would do the same."

"Would ya?"

Emily looked back to him. "Yeah."

"You'd try and take my gun?" he questioned with a smile.

Emily let her eyes drift over to the younger and much quieter brother. He was leaning against the back of the driver's seat. His crossbow hung in front of him. He was quiet. He was the submissive partner in the small family unit. She could tell that already. He listened and watched, taking the lead from his older brother.

"So Merle," Emily changed the subject.

"Yeah sweetheart?"

Emily ignored the pet name. "What are we gonna do about these walkers?"

"I think a more reasonable question would be what are we gonna do about the two of ya'll," he said.

"If it wasn't for you two-" Daryl cut in.

"They probably heard you brother's loud mouth," Derek raised his voice. "Ya'll jumped her!"

"Derek cool it!" Emily hissed. "I barged in on them."

"Listen to her man, bossy and…she's smart," Merle smirked. "But I wasn't born yesterday. Can't butter me up like that. But there are a few other things you could do for me-"

"Merle! Cut it out," Daryl snapped. "And shut up. Them damn things hear us!"

Emily stayed silent as another walker bumped against the metal of the exterior.

Merle mumbled something under his breath, but brought his attention from her and Derek to pick her bag back up.

Emily felt a flare of fear ignite inside her.

Merle loosened the drawstring bag and reached one of his dirty hands inside.

"Another clip…Two extra clips…This all the bullets y'all got?"

Emily took a side glance to Derek. She felt her heart rate quicken Their FBI badges were inside. When she met Derek's eyes she knew he was thinking the same thing.

"What's this?"

Emily's fears materialized when Merle pulled both black badges from their bag.

He flipped the first one open and squinted down at it. Emily held her breath, unconsciously she grasped Derek's knee from underneath the table. Only when he flinched and reached down to grab her hand, did she realize that she even did so. Embarrassed, she released him and brought her hands to rest on her own jeaned legs.

Merle looked up and met her eyes.

"You've gotta be fuckin kiddin me," he lowered himself from the counter and turned the badge to them.  
>"Emily Prentiss, Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI?"<p>

"What?" Daryl roared from the front of the RV.

"And Derek Morgan too?" Merle held the second badge up.

"What? Feds?" Daryl roared.

"Easy Robin Hood, it's not like we can arrest you," Derek snapped. "We're just trying to survive here. Yes we're FBI agents but we're stuck out here just like you two!"

Emily turned her head back to face Merle.

He stared hard at the both of them as if he was still mulling over the fact that he had a chance to end the lives of two feds without consequence.

She'd been around plenty of rough men like Merle and his brother. Criminals always seemed to think that Feds were the true enemy. Emily guessed that they were right. They were enemies on any normal day, but today wasn't normal.

"We're just regular people today, Merle," Emily murmured softly.

Merle stuffed both badges back inside her bag and laid his pistol atop it again.

"I got an idea," he rasped after a few seconds.

Emily's stomach sank at his words.

"It's one of those I'll scratch your back if ya'll scratch mine."

"We don't need your help," Morgan snapped.

"It looks like ya do right now. You need us to not throw your asses right outta here…use ya'll for bait. Cause we could."

"What are you doin?" Daryl demanded.

Merle ignored him. "Listen. Ya'll city folks...ain't used to the geography right?"

"Right," Emily answered boldly.

She pushed all doubts out of her head and engaged the older brother in conversation again.

He smiled at her boldness.

"There's a town that way," he pointed toward the front of the RV. "We need to get into it. But we need an extra hand or two."

"What's in it?" Emily asked. She tried to sound interested as she turned her body more to face Merle.

"Guns. A small town police station. Bunch of supplies that I wanna get too before everybody else and their mama does."

Emily flinched as the walkers outside grew louder.

"We ain't that bad really. We're a hell of a lot better than what's out there. We're all respectable people here right?" Merle questioned.

Emily moistened her dry lips. She glanced toward Merle's brother.

Daryl glared at Merle as if he didn't understand his brother's proposed plan.

That sent red flags to Emily right away.

"If you know the geography then why can't you get there yourself?" Morgan asked doubtingly.

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. She looked back to the man questioningly.

"Listen here buddy. I get it. You wanna protect your girl."

"I'm not his girl," Emily snapped at Merle.

"Well. If something happens to you…Mr. FBI, what's gonna happen to your girl all alone? She'll need someone to watch her back," Merle murmured.

"I'm an-"

"An FBI agent? You made it through the big ol academy," Merle interrupted her. "Maybe you're as tough as you try to be, but no one can survive alone for long."

"I'd rather her be alone than with you two pricks," Derek growled. "Besides we're all gonna die if you don't just let us go. How long do you think that these walkers are gonna bang around out there before they get in?"

"Me and Daryl ain't goin down like this," Merle snapped. He picked his pistol up and pointed it at the two of them. "To the roof. Both of you. If we can't trust the two of you-"

"Wait," Emily choked out. "Just explain to me why you would wanna team up with two feds. That's why Derek wasn't keen on your idea. You obviously don't like us."

"Well I thought that Feds might be the type to watch your back. Maybe I was wrong. I figured ya'll weren't gun shy…figured that-"

"Cut the shit out Merle!" Daryl snapped. "What the hell are you-"

"What's the plan to get all four of us outta here safe then?" Derek interrupted. "Cause we gotta get outta here quick."

"I reckon we'd have to work together," Merle gritted through his teeth.

"Well let's do it," Emily interrupted. She didn't like the tension between Merle and Derek.

"Scratch our back and we'll scratch yours," she said boldly. She didn't quite believe her own statement. She didn't know yet if she and Derek would even go along with them, but she did know that the two of them wouldn't have a chance if they didn't get out of the RV.

_Author's Note: This was a little taste of what I started. For now, I'm planning on doing a bunch of oneshot chapters with different characters, but this one will continue longer. I'm hoping to do a Reid/Rossi and a JJ/Hotch to see where how everyone else is fairing during the apocalypse and which members of the regular TWD characters they are meeting up with. Which oneshot should be next? Reid and Rossi's or JJ and Hotch's? Reviews would be helpful!_


End file.
